Stringman Robotic Cleaner Moves Along Ceiling on Cables

Nathaniel Nifong, an engineer at Neufangled Robotics, has introduced the Stringman robotic cleaner, which moves along the ceiling on cables.

The device is a two-pronged gripper without wheels or legs, suspended from the corners of the room. Motorized anchors control cable tension, allowing the robot to move freely within the room's volume.

Its operation principle focuses on minimizing the number of actuators: lifting objects does not require a complex humanoid structure.

The cleaning process involves several steps:

• Cameras on the anchors and gripper detect objects on the floor
• AI models analyze the object and determine the grasping method
• The robot transports items to bins marked with clips (laundry, toys, trash)

Only containers need to be marked, while restricted zones are defined via software.

The development cost is $965. The robot can lift up to 2 kg near the floor and up to 1 kg anywhere in the room in spaces up to 147 m³.

All computations are performed on the user's PC. The device supports a fully local mode where video data never leaves the home network.

The project is open source under the Apache 2.0 license. The firmware source code is available on GitHub.